[Solved] VERY Slow Opening Files

Discuss the spreadsheet application
Post Reply
RErwin
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2021 5:47 am

[Solved] VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by RErwin »

I just purchased an i7 Quad Core 11th Generation Dell computer with 16GB RAM, SSD, and MX350 graphics card. This thing is FAST. Office 2007 and Office 2016 work like lightening.

When I open a spreadsheet in OpenOffice it takes FOREVER. I do NOT have multiple programs open, etc. I was planning on dumping Microsoft, but I cannot abide the slowness of OpenOffice. I understand it being slow the first time to convert old Microsoft files, but after saving them in OpenOffice format, why is it STILL taking forever?

Thank you.
Last edited by Hagar Delest on Fri Jan 20, 2023 5:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: tagged solved.
OpenOffice 4.1.0 on Microsoft Windows 10 Home
User avatar
Villeroy
Volunteer
Posts: 31269
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:35 am
Location: Germany

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by Villeroy »

If you have MS Office, edit all your doc(x), xls(x) etc. with that program exclusively. This is what these file formats are made for.
OpenOffice was the reference implementation of the free Open Document Standard (ODF) beyond Microsoft's proprietary document formats.

Meanwhile OpenOffice is almost dead. The successor LibreOffice achieved better compatibility and performance with foreign file formats.
https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/li ... penoffice/
Nevertheless, you should always edit your documents with their respective applications and import foreign file formats only when inevitable.
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
Ubuntu 18.04 with LibreOffice 6.0, latest OpenOffice and LibreOffice
User avatar
Zizi64
Volunteer
Posts: 11353
Joined: Wed May 26, 2010 7:55 am
Location: Budapest, Hungary

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by Zizi64 »

What do you meant as "slow"?

Please upload some sample files and give us some details about the opening time...

Maybe the files contains some unconvertable properties, or errors... Maybe the files are damaged, etc...
Try it with an ODF type file what was created in the AOO.

Note: the AOO and the LibreOffice always will be slower on Windows than the MSO. A MS software can be more optimized to a MS operating system than a multiplatform software can be...
Last edited by Zizi64 on Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
Tibor Kovacs, Hungary; LO7.5.8 /Win7-10 x64Prof.
PortableApps/winPenPack: LO3.3.0-7.6.2;AOO4.1.14
Please, edit the initial post in the topic: add the word [Solved] at the beginning of the subject line - if your problem has been solved.
RErwin
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2021 5:47 am

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by RErwin »

Sorry, but I'm a little confused. Once OpenOffice has reformatted a file into its .ods, shouldn't it be done with Microsoft? After that point, isn't it all done in .ods format?

Thanks for the help.
OpenOffice 4.1.0 on Microsoft Windows 10 Home
User avatar
Villeroy
Volunteer
Posts: 31269
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:35 am
Location: Germany

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by Villeroy »

Since you are using WIndows, you may not know the file format you are actually working with since Microsoft hides the file name extension while it shows confusing file icons. The icons do not represent the actual file format. The icons represent the application that is used when you double-click on an icon. OpenOffice will never convert any files automagically but Windows displays the OpenOffice icons for all office documents where OpenOffice is the double-click application even if the files are Microsoft documents.

In Libre/OpenOffice menu:File>Properties... tab "General" shows the true file format of the current document.

When using Windows, you should always turn off the option "hide extensions of known file formats" in the Explorer options. This massive confusion exists since Windows 95 and will never be fixed. This is intentional.
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
Ubuntu 18.04 with LibreOffice 6.0, latest OpenOffice and LibreOffice
User avatar
Zizi64
Volunteer
Posts: 11353
Joined: Wed May 26, 2010 7:55 am
Location: Budapest, Hungary

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by Zizi64 »

has reformatted a file into its .ods, shouldn't it be done with Microsoft? After that point, isn't it all done in .ods format?
There is not optimal reformat method for some formatting properties of the MS documents. LO must use some workaround methods: for example the .doc format not know any Page Style feature, therefore the AOO/LO must create lots of Page Stlyes for the individually and manually formatted pages of a .doc type document during the conversion.
Tibor Kovacs, Hungary; LO7.5.8 /Win7-10 x64Prof.
PortableApps/winPenPack: LO3.3.0-7.6.2;AOO4.1.14
Please, edit the initial post in the topic: add the word [Solved] at the beginning of the subject line - if your problem has been solved.
RErwin
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2021 5:47 am

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by RErwin »

Thank you for your time.

FIRST: I know about extensions and am using the correct extensions.
SECOND: I am still confused with all the acronyms. AFTER OpenOFfice has converted the file to its OWN format, why is it still taking so long to open?

Further note: I do not have LibreOffice, but OpenOffice 4.1

Thanks.
OpenOffice 4.1.0 on Microsoft Windows 10 Home
User avatar
Zizi64
Volunteer
Posts: 11353
Joined: Wed May 26, 2010 7:55 am
Location: Budapest, Hungary

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by Zizi64 »

Further note: I do not have LibreOffice, but OpenOffice 4.1
The LibreOffice has a littlebit higher compatibility with the foreign file formats.

AFTER OpenOFfice has converted the file to its OWN format, why is it still taking so long to open?
A converted document never will be such consistent than an original ODF file can be.
Tibor Kovacs, Hungary; LO7.5.8 /Win7-10 x64Prof.
PortableApps/winPenPack: LO3.3.0-7.6.2;AOO4.1.14
Please, edit the initial post in the topic: add the word [Solved] at the beginning of the subject line - if your problem has been solved.
RErwin
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2021 5:47 am

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by RErwin »

So, in essence, I have 25 years of Microsoft files that OpenOffice cannot convert and easily use? That is not convincing me to leave Microsoft.... Opening on OpenOffice file that has already been converted is slower than my kids PCs from over a decade ago using old Office 2007 files.
OpenOffice 4.1.0 on Microsoft Windows 10 Home
User avatar
Zizi64
Volunteer
Posts: 11353
Joined: Wed May 26, 2010 7:55 am
Location: Budapest, Hungary

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by Zizi64 »

Try the LibreOffice.
Tibor Kovacs, Hungary; LO7.5.8 /Win7-10 x64Prof.
PortableApps/winPenPack: LO3.3.0-7.6.2;AOO4.1.14
Please, edit the initial post in the topic: add the word [Solved] at the beginning of the subject line - if your problem has been solved.
User avatar
keme
Volunteer
Posts: 3699
Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2007 10:27 am
Location: Egersund, Norway

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by keme »

RErwin wrote:So, in essence, I have 25 years of Microsoft files that OpenOffice cannot convert and easily use? That is not convincing me to leave Microsoft.... Opening on OpenOffice file that has already been converted is slower than my kids PCs from over a decade ago using old Office 2007 files.
Yes. That is sometimes the case, with MS Office files as well as with ODF-files originating from MS Office files.

The short explanation is that there are elements of either set of file formats which cannot be directly represented in the other. Some document building blocks are fundamentally different, even when they appear almost identical. When you convert from one file type to the other, workaround elements are inserted to mimick the original. Those elements will sometimes require unexpectedly large resource amounts.

Knowing that does not help you much, I guess.

As Villeroy and Zizi64 already suggested, LibreOffice is worth a try. Not sure that it will improve speed for you, but some of the conversions seem to be better than in OpenOffice, and it will not cost you a lot to try. Approximately a GB of storage (which can be reclaimed) and an hour of your time (which cannot be reclaimed). ;)
John_Ha
Volunteer
Posts: 9583
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 5:51 pm
Location: UK

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by John_Ha »

I would expect the opening time to be broadly comparable to MS Excel but, until you upload the file so it can be analysed, we are only guessing. AOO opens a large 900 page .odt with 50+ images about 3x faster than opening a .doc file of the same document. A .docx should be broadly comparable to the .odt. See Re: Heavy to load illustrated novel. HELP!

If the file has confidential material in it, you can obscure the contents without affecting the structure too much (lines will spill differently because different characters have different widths) by changing every lower case alphabetic character to an " x ". Select all the text (Ctrl+A) and:

Edit > Find and Replace
Find box [a-z]
Replace box x
Options: Match case: YES, Regular expressions: YES
click Replace all

Repeat the above using [A-Z] and X to scramble the upper case letters, and [0-9] and 0 to scramble numeric data.

The limit here is 128kB, or use a fileshare site like mediafire for larger files.

Other points

1. Are you using iterations? If so they can take time.

2. Strange problems are often fixed by resetting the user profile - see Resetting the user profile.

3. See [Tutorial] Differences between Microsoft and AOO/LO files for a description of differences and for why you should always work in, and save Writer files as .odt, Calc files as .ods, Impress files as .odp etc.
LO 6.4.4.2, Windows 10 Home 64 bit

See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.

Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.
User avatar
Hagar Delest
Moderator
Posts: 32627
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:07 pm
Location: France

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by Hagar Delest »

keme wrote:The short explanation is that there are elements of either set of file formats which cannot be directly represented in the other. Some document building blocks are fundamentally different, even when they appear almost identical. When you convert from one file type to the other, workaround elements are inserted to mimick the original. Those elements will sometimes require unexpectedly large resource amounts.
That's also my belief. The comparison with text documents is less relevant I think because it is mostly a flow of characters with layers of formatting. Whereas a spreadsheet contains formulas and calculation that may be coded differently depending on the application. Since MS Office use a custom version of their OOXML .xlsx format, there may be tricks to optimize those calculations that are not available to 3rd party applications like LO.
I've already experienced files that opens readily with MS Office but takes ages in AOO or LO.

If you want to check, you can try with a not that complex file, copy and paste the values only and redo the formulas and layout, it may show a difference with the original file.
LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 on Xubuntu 23.10 and 7.6.4.1 portable on Windows 10
Mountaineer
Posts: 310
Joined: Sun Sep 06, 2020 8:27 am

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by Mountaineer »

RErwin wrote:So, in essence, I have 25 years of Microsoft files that OpenOffice cannot convert and easily use? That is not convincing me to leave Microsoft....
Microsoft never intended anybody to leave their office. So this is working as wished. (There is one O to bind them all...)
Also StarOffice/OpenOffice/LibreOffice was designed for the same tasks, but not as a drop-in replacement. Obvious is the ICU-regular expressions or the suggested use of styles. Also the idea of portable software hasbsome constraints. (In old times MS-Excel differed on Win and Mac on Dates, and somtimes you stumble over this even with newest LibreOffice.)
RErwin wrote:Opening on OpenOffice file that has already been converted is slower than my kids PCs from over a decade ago using old Office 2007 files.
Your experience is not typical. In your position I would try LibreOffice, or if you dont like try to install OpenOffice 4.1.10 as I have seen a .0 at the end of your version.

If this is not helping you can try to check, if it is related to the content of your files.
For example Excel is often used as some kind of database, as Access has to be paid seperate. With AOO we would use the available database....
But this is useless guesswork.

I converted my company without problems, but I used a clean start in 2014, just kept the old office available. When we stepped to win10 we kept MS-Office only on 2 computers, to solve compatibility issues, if they arise.

J.
OpenOffice 3.1 on Windows Vista
User avatar
Zizi64
Volunteer
Posts: 11353
Joined: Wed May 26, 2010 7:55 am
Location: Budapest, Hungary

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by Zizi64 »

AFTER OpenOFfice has converted the file to its OWN format, why is it still taking so long to open?
Try Andrew Pitonyak's free "macro book" documents. They contain about 600 Pages and about 300 pictures. And they open for me in a few seconds with my LibreOffice, because they are originated in AOO or in LO with an optimum structure, and in ISO standard ODF file format.

https://www.pitonyak.org/oo.php
Tibor Kovacs, Hungary; LO7.5.8 /Win7-10 x64Prof.
PortableApps/winPenPack: LO3.3.0-7.6.2;AOO4.1.14
Please, edit the initial post in the topic: add the word [Solved] at the beginning of the subject line - if your problem has been solved.
Stravaigin
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2023 5:22 pm

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files or not responding

Post by Stravaigin »

My Open Office has been getting slower and slower, or just "not responding" whether in Calc or Write mode. I tried various suggestions on the forum, none of which worked. Today I downloaded the latest version of Libre, tried editing a couple of my previous files and it could not have been easier - it has transferred predictive words, sums, pictures, etc. and the layout is very similar to Open Office. It has same features such as Recent Documents, the same icons for calculations - I can't fault it. So I have now completely uninstalled Open Office and wish I had done so weeks ago! I strongly advise this action - it didn't take long and was very easy. My laptop works on Windows 10.
Open office 4.1.13 Windows 10
User avatar
Hagar Delest
Moderator
Posts: 32627
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:07 pm
Location: France

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by Hagar Delest »

Indeed, per the forum posts these last 6 months (but it may be slightly longer), a lot of glitches seem to have crawled in the AOO code and LO is clearly well superior now. Not sure if it comes from the code or from the OS updates. For sure LO now plays much better with the OS than AOO.
LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 on Xubuntu 23.10 and 7.6.4.1 portable on Windows 10
User avatar
Myhrddin
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2019 4:48 pm

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by Myhrddin »

One day my OpenOffice loaded the single page odf file I'd created in nothing flat. I do have it saved with password but, that was not causing any delay worth mentioning.
Then, there was a set of updates to Windows 10...

And, after that it's been taking upwards of a full minute to open this single page document.

So, it's not OpenOffice or Writer but, something with the Win10 update that must be the culprit in this massive delay between entering the document password and being able to get past it "loading document" as seen at the bottom left of the window.

I have re-selected the Java to be sure it was using the newest and not the built-in one that seems to be just part of windows that is neither mentioned or uninstallable by regular methods. I then got the java uninstall tool and removed both the 32bit and 64bit of that Java. Subsequently I only reinstalled the 32bit Java.

I knew this was a long shot but, it was something I could do that could possibly kick start it to behaving normally again.
Nope. Doesn't matter if I only have the Win10 java and select it or install the latest java 32 and use it..

I may have even run a repair install of the current OpenOffice as well, to no avail.

Anyone had some luck with what I see as a purely artificial lag in OpenOffice Writer.

Note: The file in question originated in OO Writer and has never been in any other software so, it's not one of the conversion things I saw mishandled at the beginning of this thread either.

Thanks for any insight that might return oOo to it's normal behavior.!

~Myr
.end.trans.
OpenOffice 4.1.15 on Windows 10 x64 [27 Feb 2024]
User avatar
Hagar Delest
Moderator
Posts: 32627
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:07 pm
Location: France

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by Hagar Delest »

Try a portable version of LibreOffice to see if it does better.
There are lot of posts about such glitches.
Not sure why it would be linked to the Windows update. Security strategy changed? dynamic libraries (dl)?
LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 on Xubuntu 23.10 and 7.6.4.1 portable on Windows 10
User avatar
RoryOF
Moderator
Posts: 34586
Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2009 9:30 pm
Location: Ireland

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by RoryOF »

Myhrddin wrote: Fri Jan 13, 2023 9:33 am
I may have even run a repair install of the current OpenOffice as well, to no avail.
A repair installation of OpenOffice will pick up the existing OpenOffice User Profile, which may contain a glitch causing the problem. It can be useful to rename the existing OO User Profile and restart OpenOffice, which will generate a new default profile, which may cure the problem. If not, it is trivial to delete the new User Profile and rename the old version.
Apache OpenOffice 4.1.15 on Xubuntu 22.04.4 LTS
John_Ha
Volunteer
Posts: 9583
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 5:51 pm
Location: UK

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by John_Ha »

What you are experiencing is not normal. Please upload the file showing the problem so that it can be analysed.

Click Full Editor and Preview. Click the Upload attachment tab below where you type for files up to 128 kB max; or use a file share site such as mediafire, Dropbox or Google Drive for a larger file.

If the file has confidential material in it, you can obscure the contents without affecting the structure too much (lines will spill differently because different characters have different widths) by changing every lower case alphabetic character to an " x ". Select all the text (Ctrl+A) and:

Edit > Find and Replace
Find box [a-z]
Replace box x
Options: Match case: YES, Regular expressions: YES
click Replace all

Repeat the above using [A-Z] and X to scramble the upper case letters, and [0-9] and 0 to scramble numeric data.
LO 6.4.4.2, Windows 10 Home 64 bit

See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.

Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.
dacha
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2011 10:18 am

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by dacha »

We do have a number of performance bugs in AOO, eg. bugs 124704, 116752, 128552. From what I've seen it's usually due to usage of bad data structures and algorithms, and there is plenty of hope in improving those. I hope to try soon.
User avatar
Myhrddin
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2019 4:48 pm

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by Myhrddin »

I'll try to do the profile reset first. This document is encrypted and contains a number of logins that are not going to be shared.
Did I state that the delay is happening after I enter the document password?
It always used to open in not more than a couple of seconds max. I've been using/modifying this doc for a number of years.
Opening the file again moments ago, it seemed to only take about 20 seconds to open this time, which is an improvement ..at least a little.

Another note since I mentioned using this for years.. At least yearly, I increment the doc version number and save it as a new file so various dated files can remain in their various folders which correspond to the year they were current/active in. So, this is one of the new 2023 iterations.

I'd mentioned possibly having something to do with a windows update since that's really the only thing that had changed between it opening as soon as it decrypted it and the new super lag opening. It could be any number of things but, I'll give the profile reset approach a go and see if that makes any difference.

Thanks everyone for your insights into this frustrating behavior lately.!
OpenOffice 4.1.15 on Windows 10 x64 [27 Feb 2024]
User avatar
Hagar Delest
Moderator
Posts: 32627
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:07 pm
Location: France

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by Hagar Delest »

Note that for password management, I used to tore them in a password protected text file too. But password managers are now way better, including to autotype the sequence. I use KeePassXC, very good (better than KeepPass IMHO).
LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 on Xubuntu 23.10 and 7.6.4.1 portable on Windows 10
John_Ha
Volunteer
Posts: 9583
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 5:51 pm
Location: UK

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by John_Ha »

See [Solved] too big or corrupted odt for a heavily edited "tangled" .odt file which hanged both LO and AOO until the XML was tidied up.
LO 6.4.4.2, Windows 10 Home 64 bit

See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.

Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.
User avatar
Myhrddin
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2019 4:48 pm

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by Myhrddin »

okay.. let's see.
I use password managers except this is a special situation for this small set.

This isn't a big file, it's a single page document that's only loosely filled and I haven't intentionally used any xml or coding within other than basic formatting like font/size ..normal stuff.

I agree that it's likely something is probably corrupted in it's internal format though, on a lower level than the working doc.

And... WaLLa (*didn't say voila in Ready Player One) .. after copying, pasting into New/Blank Doc and saving as the new/next iteration...
...
... The friggin problem completely Vanished like digital Magic.!

Thank You.! Thanks to Everyone who had a thought or shared what they knew about working in this environment.
In addition to this solution, it's given me some additional knowledge to carry forward to help ameliorate similar situations should they arise.

Kudos!

This X-File can be considered Closed now... or can it.? :-)
~Myr
.end.trans.
OpenOffice 4.1.15 on Windows 10 x64 [27 Feb 2024]
User avatar
keme
Volunteer
Posts: 3699
Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2007 10:27 am
Location: Egersund, Norway

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by keme »

Myhrddin wrote: Fri Jan 20, 2023 5:26 pm [...]
after copying, pasting into New/Blank Doc and saving as the new/next iteration...
...
... The friggin problem completely Vanished like digital Magic.!
[...]
This X-File can be considered Closed now... or can it.? :-)
~Myr
.end.trans.
Sure! Hagar took care of that. (The [Solved] tag in the thread subject is how that is done around here.)
It would be interesting to know whether your new document is a significantly smaller file size (as reported by your file manager) than your original, or about the same. Not important, just my curiosity flagging.
Good to know that your issue was solved.
Last edited by keme on Mon Jan 23, 2023 9:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Myhrddin
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2019 4:48 pm

Re: VERY Slow Opening Files

Post by Myhrddin »

keme wrote: Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:08 pm
Myhrddin wrote: Fri Jan 20, 2023 5:26 pm [...]
after copying, pasting into New/Blank Doc and saving as the new/next iteration...
...
... The friggin problem completely Vanished like digital Magic.!
[...]
This X-File can be considered Closed now... or can it.? :-)
~Myr
.end.trans.
Sure! Hagar tokk care of that.
It would be interesting to know whether your new document is a significantly smaller file size (as reported by your file manager) than your original, or about the same. Not important, just my curiosity flagging.
Good to know that your issue was solved.
In regards to file size .. it's varied some between as high as 15k, the last laggy version was 12k and the new one is 10k. Not a huge change but there we have it.. yep, a bit smaller. :-)
OpenOffice 4.1.15 on Windows 10 x64 [27 Feb 2024]
Post Reply